These Andorra and Nagorno-Karabakh pseudo-sets belong to category 1]. Would you agree? They come from the Kremnica Mint in Slovakia.

Andorra is ... somewhere between 1 and 2. Keep in mind that Andorra is a country with its own government (in the sense of parliament, ministers, etc.) but for historical reasons the two heads of state are the president of the French Republic and the bishop of Urgell. The "Andorran coins" are issued by the "Servei d'Emissions" of the bishop's office. Does that make them government issues? I don't think so, but since they do not circulate anyway, who cares?

Some newer pieces that look like circulation coins were made by the Tower Mint (UK) by the way. That applies to various "Andorran coins" issued between 2007 and 2007; don't know about the more recent ones.

Who defines what control is "illegal"? We may get deep into politics here. What I had in mind when I read that question was: If I had a coin issued by (or in the name of) the Sahrawi Republic - would that be a "country" that is "illegally controlled"? Actually I have no idea what category those pieces could be in ...

If I had a coin issued by (or in the name of) the Sahrawi Republic - would that be a "country" that is "illegally controlled"? Actually I have no idea what category those pieces could be in ...

Originally that was the Spanish Sahara. Eventually Morocco annexed it.

From Wikipedia:

The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a partially recognised state that claims sovereignty over the entire territory of Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony. The SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front on February 27, 1976 in Bir Lehlu, Western Sahara. The SADR government currently controls about 20-25% of the territory it claims. It calls the territories under its control the Liberated Territories or the Free Zone. Morocco controls and administers the rest of the disputed territory and calls these lands its Southern Provinces.

The SADR is recognised by only 81 states. The Arab League does not recognise it; the African Union does. Several states that do not recognise the SADR do however support the right of self-determination of the Sahrawi people. The SADR is not a member of the UN, which has called for negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front. The UN does not recognise Moroccan claims, and the Western Sahara remains in the UN List of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Originally, I would have included Sahrawi pieces under category 2:

2] Unofficial sets for unrecognised territories or countries.

However, I think I need another category for disputed territories or territories where no one government is in control. The SADR would fall under that category.

Then I need a category for territories that are only partially recognised. So, Sahrawi would fall under this category also (as would Kosovo, which does not issue coins or fantasy pieces but uses the euro, and is not recognised by several states).

I also need to clarify: recognised by whom? The UN; or the vast majority of the world's states? What do you think?

Any territory with a population recognized by all permanent members of the UN security council - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States - is a country

Any territory with a population not recognized by all members of the UN security council, but recognized by the majority of the members of the UN (there are currently 192 members, so 97 is a majority) is a country

Peter

Logged

An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

Any territory with a population recognized by all permanent members of the UN security council - China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States - is a country

Any territory with a population not recognized by all members of the UN security council, but recognized by the majority of the members of the UN (there are currently 192 members, so 97 is a majority) is a country

Peter

The problem is countries like Taiwan(Republic of China) is only recognised by a small number of countries but it functions as an independent country that the USA claims they will defend if the PROC were to ever invade. The ROC Taiwan had the China seat in the UN until they were booted out back in 1971. The USA and many other countries recognised them as the legitimate government of all China up until 1979 Up until about a decade ago Taiwan claimed all of China as it's domain - but with a change of leadership that is now native Taiwanese and not from mainland China there is a lot of agitation to give up on claiming the mainland, including Tibet and Mongolia as their rightful territory. In some senses you would think the PROC would say bye and let them go. In reality though they claim Taiwan as a "renegade" province.

Kosovo is another "country" that claims to be a legitimate government and a lot of Europe and the USA have recognised them as a nation- but still a majority of countries do not - including Spain in Europe, and Russia.

Transdnestr functions independently - even has it's own currency. But it is only recognised by other un-recognised states like S. Ossetiya and Abkhaziya that themselves are only recognised by four or five other countries. The most telling thing about Transdnestr is the presence of Russian military there - "peacekeepers" - more like stakeholders for when Russia re-emerges as the major power broker in the region and absorbs large swathes of Ukraine, Transdnestr, Belarus. Transdnestr is a weird place - kind of like a frozen in time Soviet era mini-state with hammers and sickles everywhere. I was antsy about travelling through a small portion of the country because I was there without a visa.